Subsidiary | |
Industry | Theme park |
Founded | July 15, 1964 |
Headquarters | Orlando, Florida, United States |
Key people
|
Thomas L. Williams (CEO) |
Owner | Comcast |
Number of employees
|
2500 |
Parent | NBCUniversal |
Subsidiaries |
Universal Orlando Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Creative Universal Studios Japan |
Website | Official website |
Universal Parks & Resorts, commonly and also known as Universal Studios Theme Parks or solely Universal Theme Parks, is the theme park subsidiary of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast. The subsidiary, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, US, operates Universal theme parks and resort properties around the world. Universal Parks & Resorts is best known for attractions and lands based on famous classic and modern pop culture properties (movies, television, literature, cartoons, comics, video games, music, etc.) from not only NBCUniversal but also other companies, for all of its parks.
It is started as a studio touring attraction which was originated at Universal's Hollywood location beginning around 1910s, then later in 1964 when it turned into a huge family amusement park destination, where guests can experience the behind the scenes look of the making of motion pictures and television programs, produced by Universal Studios and occasionally others, and ride the attraction based on world's favorite feature films and television shows. The popularity of Universal Studios Hollywood had lead Universal to another parks in Florida and overseas during the following years. Universal parks had not necessary to be built as entertainment studio-theme, other Universal parks (both current and former) can be themed to other experiences, like Universal's Islands of Adventure, themed to islands of various experiences, PortAvenrua, themed to international countries, Wet 'n Wild Orlando, themed to a water playground, and Volcano Bay, themed to Polynesian culture.
The theme parks were owned by Seagram through the ownership via Universal Studios.
In 2014, approximately 40.1+million guests visited Universal Studios theme parks, making it the third-largest amusement park operator in the world. It is a major competitor of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and SeaWorld Entertainment.
Universal Studios theme park in Hollywood was the first Universal Studios to open on July 15, 1964, long after it was originated as a studio tour attraction in 1915, after the Universal original founder, Carl Laemmle opened Universal City.